If 2023 proved anything, it’s that just because you’re touting a game as the ‘next big thing,’ doesn’t mean it’ll come out that way. Furthermore, sometimes, the “unexpected titles” had the biggest impact on the gaming industry. There were numerous failures within the gaming industry in 2023, one of which had to do with “big titles” coming out that didn’t make an impact for various reasons. One such game was Immortals Of Aveum. The game by Ascendant Studios tried to do something special with its “magical shooter” and even had A-List celebrities like Gina Torres helping plug the game, but it wasn’t enough.
Not only did the game fail when it launched last August, but the studio had to lay off half of its team due to the sales failure. So why are we talking about it now in February? That’s because the studio CEO, Bret Robbins, interviewed with Remap Radio and noted that the game has done better since a few things happened.
What were those things? Well, first, Immortals Of Aveum had a price discount, going down from its initial $70 launch price. He felt that this was a huge thing for the game:
“Now the game is on sale, and sure enough, we’ve seen a huge uptick in sales because of the price. The price is interesting, there’s an argument to be made that we should’ve come out at a lower price point.”
He noted that game sales have been five times what they were at launch, which is progress! Whether that makes the game a success is debatable. Elsewhere in that interview, he noted that another thing that helped the game was a three-hour demo that really let players get their hands on the title and see what it was all about.
“Once people actually get their hands on it, they go, ‘This game’s kind of awesome. How did I miss this one?'”
A classic phrase in the gaming industry, but one last thing Robbins noted was that the August release date hurt them. Two other big-name titles were released that month, including the Game of the Year for many people in Baldur’s Gate 3.
When you combine that with people not being sure about the title and it being the studio’s first “big game,” it definitely led to people not wanting to give it a shot when there were “safer bets” for what would be a fun time.
We’ll have to see what the studio does next.
